Court of Appeal Confirms Ontario’s Inadequate Climate Target is Harming Ontarians and Must Comply with Charter Standards.

The Ontario government lost its bid to ignore the climate crisis as the Ontario Court of Appeal overruled a lower court decision to dismiss the case of seven Ontario youths who claim the province has a duty to protect them from climate change.

“Friends of the Earth is proud to be participating in this historical case,” said Beatrice Olivastri CEO.

The Ontario Court of Appeal released its much-anticipated decision in the youth-led climate case, Mathur v Ontario. Seven young Ontarians appealed the lower court’s rejection of their lawsuit challenging the provincial government’s insufficient and unscientific climate policy as violating their constitutional rights to life, security of the person, and equality.

This decision is a victory worth celebrating. The Ontario Court of Appeal found that the lower court failed to properly consider whether Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target was in compliance with the Charter and sent the issue back to the lower court for a new hearing. In granting the youth’s appeal, the Court confirmed that Ontario’s target is severely deficient, is incompatible with the international scientific consensus on reductions necessary to mitigate the most catastrophic effects of climate change, and increases the risk of harm and death of Ontarians.

Friends of the Earth Canada intervened in the appeal, which was heard in January 2024. FOE urged the court to take the existential, urgent, and irreversible nature of climate change into account in its decision. FOE also argued that the court’s analysis should be guided by international law, including the precautionary principle, ecological sustainability, intergenerational equity, and environmental justice. The Ontario Court of Appeal emphasized in its decision that the application of international environmental law to the youth’s Charter claims is an important issue to be addressed at the new hearing.

As the Supreme Court of Canada recently noted, Canadian governments and courts have an important role to play in protecting the right to a safe environment. The Court of Appeal’s decision today is a step forward in safeguarding this right and the ability of the Mathur youth and all Ontarians to grow old on a stable planet. Although the case must head back to the trial court for an ultimate ruling on whether Ontario’s climate target is constitutionally compliant, the seven youth are “optimistic and will push forward with the new hearing, with all the urgency the climate crisis demands.”

“Friends of the Earth will continue to contribute to this case in any way we can,” said Ms. Olivastri.

*Friends of the Earth was represented at the Ontario Court of Appeal by Nathalie Chalifour and Erin Dobbelsteyn.

For more information or interviews:

Nathalie Chalifour – natchali@uottawa.ca

Erin Dobbelsteyn – edobb061@uottawa.ca

Beatrice Olivastri – beatrice@foecanada.org, 613 724-8690

Friends of the Earth Canada is the Canadian member of Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest grassroots environmental network campaigning on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues.